A Painters Journey
The Closing of South Street Art Gallery
South Street Art Gallery is closing. It was founded in 2001 by art lover and student of the late Ross Merrill ( Chief of Conservation at the National Gallery of Art) Patricia Spitaleri. Ross was instrumental in choosing the lighting and paint colors so that the gallery had a museum feel. My husband Carl and I took it over in 2004 and owned it until 2017 when it was purchased by another art lover Alan Brock. Alan gave it his all, while managing a busy architectural career, but eventually found that the work of maintaining an art gallery was more than he could handle. The building is up for sale and the business will cease operating at the end of June.
It's a sad time for those of us, artists and owners, who put their all into making South Street Art Gallery a nationally recognized name. But we have put thousands of pieces of quality original art into homes across the nation, and for that we can be proud. The idea for a plein air festival in Easton was born in South Street Art Gallery and now it is one of the biggest and most successful events of its kind in the world. In 2010, Easton Studio & School at 307 E. Dover Street, came out of a collaboration between my husband and I and South Street gallery artist Louis Escobedo and his wife Yolanda. Our goal was to offer top notch workshops on this coast. Today, it operates as Easton Studio and offers several workshops a year by nationally known artists. It's also my studio and where I teach.
I say this not to boast, but to point out how much impact this little three story yellow Victorian has had on art in Easton and on the plein air movement in general. But times change and business models change, so Alan is wise to move on. I wish him the best and hope he can return to his favorite passion of collecting art!
It's true that many galleries are having a hard time of it. There are so many factors that it's really a combination of things that make this so. The internet has made it very easy for collectors to find artists and to buy direct. The younger generation is comfortable buying online sight unseen. The increasingly harried pace of today's life makes spending a few hours leisurely going through galleries a disappearing pastime. But people still love art, and they buy it! They buy it at festivals which are fast paced and have an element of competition among the artists and even among the buyers who want to acquire a prize winner. They buy it at charity auctions where they can be doing some good at the same time they acquire the art. And they buy it online.
It may be true that we need to work harder at acquiring new and younger collectors as many collectors of the past 20 years are aging out. Pop-up galleries (usually in an empty storefront or warehouse and having a limited pre-determined lifespan) seem to appeal to the younger set.I read a book several years ago that predicted that brick and mortar galleries will congregate in certain urban centers that have a reputation for fine art and the galleries in small cities and towns will become obsolete. The author advocated pop-up galleries and even completely digital galleries. This makes me sad and somewhat nostalgic for the good old days, but in the age of Amazon and centralized buying for everything, it does seem to be the future.
Meanwhile, don't miss the opportunity to visit one more time (or more if you like) before South Street Art Gallery ceases to be. The gallery will be hosting it's last First Friday reception June 7. I plan to be there to raise a glass of wine and toast all the art and artists who have graced it's rooms, all the collectors who have purchased and supported the gallery through 18 years, and all the people who have worked in the business of selling the beautiful art that made South Street Art Gallery a desired destination and a place that artists were proud to put on their resumes. No one starts an art gallery to get rich, it's a labor of love.
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